Category: Concerts

[ALBUM] Points of Departure by Big Still

Coming down from the Outside Lands high, you can relax to tracks by Big Still. The San Francisco band brings back sounds of indie’s 2000-2009 period, with a more country twang. Think the wholesome frolic-in-a-grass-field harmonies of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros with the cadence of Stars’s Heart album (particularly tracks liek “The Woods,” “Romantic Comedy,” “Don’t Be Afraid to Sing”) and the flavors of Brokeback Mountain’s score.

Big Still takes you through a journey with Points of Departure – giving you the feel of a late summer road trip across the Southwest. Even the track titles (“Purple Fields” and “Beauty of California” among others) reflect leisurely traveling through various points of interest or sights even Tunguska – despite it being in Russia and being the location of an explosion.

You can see Big Still at Hotel Utah in San Francisco on Friday, August 22 as they open for The Fontaine Classic.

Concert Relive – The Colourist and Ghost Loft at Popscene

Are you in San Francisco? Did you go to The Colourist and Ghost Loft show at Popscene last night?

Relive the night with some of BoxSpeaker’s favorites by both bands 🙂

BoxSpeaker Favorite “Yes Yes” by The Colourist

“Fix This” by The Colourist

“Seconds” by Ghost Loft

“Heat Lightning” by Icky Blossoms – remixed by Ghost Loft

Kitten Announces Upcoming Tour with Charli XCX and Little Daylight

Today, Kitten announced their upcoming tour supporting Charli XCX with Little Daylight.

Check out the dates for this BoxSpeaker Favorite triple-threat tour below:

AUGUST:
30 Vancouver, BC Venue Nightclub*
31 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge*

SEPTEMBER:
1 Seattle, WA Bumbershoot Festival – Fisher Green
3 San Francisco, CA Slim’s***
5 Los Angeles, CA El Rey Theatre***
6 San Diego, CA House of Blues***
7 Las Vegas, NV Vinyl – Hard Rock Hotel & Casino***
9 Salt Lake City, UT In The Venue*
10 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
12 Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock Social Club*
13 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
14 Meadow, MI Meadow Brook Music Festival
16 Toronto, ON The Hoxton***
17 Montreal, QC La Sala Rossa***
18 Cambridge, MA The Sinclair***
20 Asbury Park – Wonder Bar**
21 New York, NY – Gramercy Theatre***
23 Columbus, OH The A&R Music Bar*
24 Nashville, TN Mercy Lounge*
25 Atlanta, GA Vinyl*
27 Houston, TX Fitzgerald’s
28 Austin, TX The Parish*
29 Dallas, TX Club Dada*

OCTOBER:
2 Orlando, FL The Social –

Follow Kitten on Facebook for more updates and check out their music on SoundCloud and their official site.

[SHOW ALERT]: CSS, MS MR, Io Echo in SF TONIGHT

CSS, MS MR, and Io Echo will follow up last night’s concert at the Independent with a second show at the Great American Music Hall tonight.

Check out CSS’s latest track “Hangover”:

MS MR’s “Fantasy”:

MS MR’s “Hurricane” Remixed by CHVRCHES!:

Io Echo’s “Ministry of Love”:

Sidenote: Io Echo is so great live and their frontwoman Ioanna Gika is really nice off-stage, too! I met Ioanna Gika on my way to the portapotties at Coachella. I was ready to hurl because I’d gotten heat stroke, but I recognized her and told her I enjoyed her set – she was really sweet!

[INTERVIEW]: CHVRCHES at Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach

I got to hang out with Lauren Mayberry, Martin Doherty, and Iain Cook from CHVRCHES before their show at Solana Beach’s Belly Up Tavern! They even remembered me from their show at Bristol!

Listen to us as we chat about music styles, social media, UK versus US, touring with Passion Pit, and ladies night in San Diego’s Hillcrest.

I’ll update this later to include a transcript.

Main Point: According to Martin, “CHVRCHES will not do EDM.”

P.S. Correction: Everything But the Girl did NOT “basically start trip hop,” but they did release really great trip hop and trip-hop-influenced albums after they decided to shift styles away from jazzy tracks.

CHVRCHES Releases North American Tour Dates Part 2

This morning electropop indiecuties CHVRCHES released their dates for their second North American Tour! Tickets go on sale this Friday!

North American Tour – May/June 2013

5/27 — George, WA — Sasquatch Music Festival
5/28 — Portland, OR — Wonder Ballroom
5/29 — San Francisco, CA — Rickshaw Stop
6/1 — Los Angeles, CA — Troubadour
6/2 — Solana Beach, CA — Belly Up Tavern
6/5 — Austin, TX — The Mohawk
6/6 — Dallas, TX — Granada Theater
6/7 — Lawrence, KS — The Granada Theatre
6/8 — Minneapolis, MN — Fine Line Music Cafe
6/10 — Chicago, IL — Lincoln Hall
6/12 — Toronto, ON — The Hoxton
6/15 — Montreal, QC — Le National
6/16 — Boston, MA — Paradise
6/17 — New York, NY — Webster Hall
6/21 — Washington, DC — Black Cat
6/22 — Dover, DE — Firefly Music Festival
6/23 — Philadelphia, PA — Union Transfer

[SF:] Breakdown Valentine

If CHVRCHES, Blondie, and The Sounds had a threesome band baby, it would be San Francisco’s Breakdown Valentine.

This electropop / electro rock duo brings dark wave influences to dream pop and adds in sultry vocals.

“Lullaby” has more of a Blondie and The Sounds 80s feel while “There Will Be Blood” sounds like a slowed down CHVRCHES track with an American accent.

If you’re in San Francisco, check them out tonight at PopScene at the Rickshaw Stop!

“Lullaby”

“There Will Be Blood”

Not gonna lie – I love this track because of its CHVRCHES synths and because There Will Be Blood is one of my favorite movies.

Swim Deep at Thekla in Bristol

BoxSpeaker takes it international today for the Swim Deep show at Thekla in Bristol, UK!

The Birmingham, UK- based Swim Deep has a very special special place in BoxSpeaker’s heart solely because of their extreme knowledge of (or at least homage to) California geography. They have the following California-related songs:

King City (a city in Monterey County):

Orange County:

Santa Maria:

Isla Vista (the college town area of Santa Barbara):

Conclusion: Aptly-named Swim Deep loves the beach cities. AND their show tonight is at Thekla, a boat-turned-music-venue!

Just wish they’d give the Torrance/Redondo/Hermosa/Manhattan/Santa Monica area some lovin’. Maybe next EP.